WoW cities wiped out by 'exploit'

World of Warcraft players in Europe experienced an unpleasant Sunday afternoon, after an "exploit" resulted in the death of every character in several cities.

Within hours of the incident, the game's publisher Blizzard issued a statement declaring it an “exploit” that has “has ... been hotfixed, so it should not be repeatable”, but offers no further explanation on the incident's nature.

WoW Insider has posted the image below, depicting piles of dead in the game.

Blizzard's slim explanation for the incident means it is not known whether the cause was an external attack or a glitch in the game's code. The source of the problem has become the topic of considerable speculation in communities dedicated to the game, with a vulnerability in the game's servers often mentioned as enabling the exploit.